Railway tank car



Jan. 19, 1932. w. P. MURPHY RAILWAY TANK CAR Filed Sept. 15. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet u /FO venior Wier RMUJPII/y Jan. 19, 1932.

' w. P. MURPHY RAILWAY TANK CAR Filed Sept. 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L- Kr? Puma Jan. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER I. MURPHY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE RAILWAY rm Application filed September 15, 1930. Serial No. 481,933.

This invention relates to tank freight car for railways which comprises a tank mounted in horizontal position upon an underframe, which underframe is mounted upon trucks.

Such cars are used for the transportation of materials of liquid or semi-liquid form,

such as acids, alcohol, ammonia, oils, paints, milk, vinegar, etc., and even gases are hauled in such cars. The movements of the liquid or semi-liquid 'loads cause severe impact blows against the ends of heads of the tanks, which, together with the inertia of the tank when the car stops on starts, causes a great tendency for the tank to move longitudinally of the car, and one of the objects of the invention is to attach' the tank to the underframe of the car or other part thereof so as to permit a re stricted movement of the tank longitudinally of the car and to provide a shock absorber between each end of the tank and the underframe which yieldingly arrests the tank and transmits part of the stresses caused by the movement of the tank to the underframe. Such a shock absorber may be hydraulic,

. pneumatic or mechanical and include springs, friction members or comblnatlon of a spring and friction members. Shock absorbers so positioned have the further advantage that they permit the tank to contract or expand independently of the underframe without binding or transmitting any stress upon the means which hold the tank to the underfram'e.

Such change in length of the tank is due to the various temperatures of the contents of the tank and also due to steam being blown vide means to adjust the capacity of the shock absorber to absorb shocks, which means may also be used to adjust the longitudinal position of the tank relative to the underframe.

Another object of the invention is to provide means to slidably support the tank upon Another object of the invention is to provide a cast metal end or head for such tanks having integral means for attachment of the tank shell and also preferably having intes gral means to accommodate one end of the shock absorber, and further preferably having integral means to slidably support the tank upon the underfrarie.

Another object is to mount the side ladder upon the frame.

In a co-pending application I have disclosed and claimed a cast metal tank end for tanks for railways cars.

In'the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a part of a typical tank car provided with my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the intermediate supports for the tank'.' '2

Fig. 3 is an enlargedlongitudinal section tank independently of the underof the end of the tank and associated parts r Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig.- 5 is an enlarged section through a typical shock absorber showing the adjusting means for the shock absorber and the remov-' able wearing plate for the slidable support.

In the drawings the usual parts .of the car are shown, such as underframe 2; wheels 3 of the truck; 4 tank shell; 5 tank end or head; 6 safety railing; 7 dome platform; Sladder for dome platform; coupler 9; side running board 10 and end platform 11.

The tank is slidably supported on the und-erframe 2 by the supporting pads 15 located adjacent the opposite ends of the tank and preferably also by additional supporting pads 16 located intermediate thereof preferably positioned adjacent the cross diaphragins 18 of the car. Adjusting and wearing means, such as the plate 20 shown in Fig. 5, may be used atone or more of the support ing points. These intermediate supporting pads 16 allow the tank to move longitudinally of the car but prevent the tank from tipping or rocking relative to the underframe. I provide laterally extending ribs 22 upon some or all of the supporting pads which engage grooves 24 at the opposite sides of the bearing surfaces 2628 upon which the supporting pads rest. The engagement of these ribs with the grooves also prevents the tank from moving laterally of the car and also prevents it from moving upwardly from the underframe. The tank is prevented from rolling or rocking relative to the underframe by the brackets 29 which are secured to the tank and are extended to form thesupporting pads 16 which rest upon the bearing surfaces 28.

The tank is slidably mounted upon the underframe 2 or car proper so as to move longitudinally thereof and is provided with a shock absorber 40 adjacent each end of thetank which is arranged to partially absorb the shocks caused by the movement of the tank and to transmit stresses through the shock absorber to the underframe. Any desired form of shock absorber may be used, but for illustration, I have shown a coil spring 41 positioned between a ,face plate 43 on the tank and a face plate 45 which is braced by a bracket 46 secured to the underframe. The ribs 4849 retain the spring in place.

, The shock absorber preferably includes means to adjust the amount of force it will absorb, which means maybe used to adjust the longitudinal position of the tank relative to the underframe by loosening the mechanical means at one end of the tank and tigl1t-. ening the mechanical means at the other end of the tank; for instance, in Fig. 5 is shown an adjusting screw 50 which alters the position of the follower 52 so as to vary the distance between the follower 52 and the face plate 43. The lock nut 54 retains the associated parts in position.

The end of the tank is preferably made of an integral casting comprising a pad 15.

Which slidably rests upon the bearing surface 26 of the underframe and also comprises an integral face plate 43 to accommodate the shock absorber. Of course, the face plate would be varied to suit the kind of shock absorber used. This face plate is preferably backed up by a pair of ribs 60 extending upwardly and merging into the tank end. The tank end is also preferably reinforced by a plurality of radiating ribs 62 which merge lnto the integral flanges 64 which secure the tank end to the shell.

As the tank moves longitudinally of the underframe the ladder 8 leading to the dome platform 7 is mounted upon the car by means of the brackets at one end' and secured to the platform by means of the brackets 71 at the other end so that it moves with the tank independently of the underframe.

The accompanyingdrawings illustrate the 4 preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur' to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe provided with a bearing surface adjacent each end of the tank and other bearing surfaces adjacent opposite sides of the car and near the longitudinal center of the car, a' horizontally positioned tank having pads slidably resting upon said bearing surfaces, and shock absorbers at opposite ends of the tank positioned between the ends of the tank and the underframe.

2. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe provided with a bearing su face, a, horizontally positioned tank having a pad slidably resting upon said bearing surface, said pad and bearing surface provided with co-acting means to prevent an upward movement of the'tank from the underframe, and a shock absorber positioned between the tank and the underframe.

3. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe provided with a bearing surface having parallel grooves adjacent opposite jacent opposite sides thereof slidably engaging said grooves, and a shock absorber 'positioned between the tank and the underframe.

4. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe provided with a face plate, a horizontally positioned tank provided with a cast metal tank end having an integral face plate, and a shock absorber positioned between said face plates.

5. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe provided with a bearing surface and a face plate, a horizontally positioned tank provided with a cast metal tank end having an integral pad slidably resting upon said bearing surface, said tank end provided with an integral face plate, and a shock absorber' positioned betweensaid face plates.

6. As an article of manufacture, a cast metal tank end for railway car tanks consist-. 

